


No Matter What

by my_middle_name_is_awkward



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 08:18:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18752566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_middle_name_is_awkward/pseuds/my_middle_name_is_awkward
Summary: Over the past two and a half decades, David had had what felt like millions of minor injuries, and a few sprains and breaks. There was even that one time when David was twenty-two that he was pretty sure his soulmate had gotten a concussion somehow, but he had done his best to chalk that awful pain in his head to the hangover he had given himself.Through every scrape and scratch, he pushed down the thought of his soulmate, not daring to let him think about the topic for longer than a second.Or the Soulmate AU where everything is the same except everyone has a soulmate and you can feel your soulmate’s physical pain.





	No Matter What

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, my name's Abby and I am in need of constant attention which is why I decided to post two different fics tonight, both of which I'm not entirely thrilled with the outcome. 
> 
> This story came out of nowhere and I just kind of ran with it. I wrote it in two days and edited it way too much over the last few hours. At this point, I just need to walk away, which is why I'm posting it minutes after I posted the next installment of Our Love is Like a Song. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like this! I don't have a beta so sorry for the mistakes! Enjoy the Soulmate AU that literally nobody asked for!

David is ten when he feels the worst pain he’s ever felt.

He is lounging in his childhood playroom, a room that could be viewed as his parents wanting somewhere to contain his toys, but by now he knew that the room was there to contain him. The room was filled with every toy you could think of, but he often grew bored of the gifts his parents have used to distract him. They really aren’t the most attentive parents.

Alexis is off somewhere being a five year old and he’s trying to entertain himself while he waits for his parents to get back from whatever gala they are at tonight, though logically, he knows that Adelina will put he and his sister to bed long before they come home. He’s in the middle of debating whether he wants to find his Furby and try to scare his sister with it or take out his Lite Brite and write out an offensive word so that his parents have to give him some sort of attention when he feels a burst of pain in his left leg.

David drops to the floor, clutching at his leg as he feels tears prickle in his eyes. The pain does not stop and soon he’s crying out for the only adult he can truly count on.

Adelina comes rushing in, eyes widening when she sees the state he’s in. She collapses beside him and reaches out towards his leg.

“David, what happened?”

“I don’t know!” He cries and he just wants it to be over, but it feels like it’s getting worse and he doesn’t know what to do.

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“My leg just started hurting!” He sobs and he knows he must sound crazy, but Adelina has always been kind to him. His mother would most likely brush it off and tell him he hurt himself doing something he shouldn’t, but Adelina has always been able to see through his lies. “I was standing there and suddenly it hurt!”

“It’s okay, David,” Adelina says, wrapping her arm around his shoulder.

“Make it stop!” He whimpers.

Adelina sighs and holds him close. “I’m afraid I cannot make it stop, David. You’ll just have to wait it out,”

“What?” He shrieks and she smooths back his hair, which is sticking to his forehead from the sweat the pain is causing. “Why?”

“This isn’t your injury,”

“What do you mean?” He’s stopped sobbing at this point, too focused on trying to figure out what his caregiver is saying to him, but tears are still streaming down his face.

“Have your parents told you about soulmates?”

He wants to yell at her and say that his parents don’t tell him or Alexis anything, but he bites his lip to stop the comment from slipping out. Adelina doesn’t know how much he longs for a better relationship with his parents, no one except Alexis does. But she’s five and she doesn’t really get it yet, but he knows she feels the same.

“No,” He eventually replies and she smiles kindly at him, just like she always does.

“You’ve seen them in movies though, haven’t you?” He furrows his bushy eyebrows, and suddenly he’s thinking about every romantic movie he’s ever watched (which is a lot, one of the perks of his dad’s business), all of them using the word ‘soulmate’. He nods and Adelina hums softly. “Soulmates have been around since people have been around. Sometimes they’re romantic and sometimes they’re platonic, which means that it’s just between friends. The majority are romantic soulmates, but there’s nothing wrong with platonic soulmates. It doesn’t matter because everybody has a soulmate, one person who completes them and helps make them a better person,”

“Do you?” David blurts out, and for a moment, he thinks he shouldn’t ask. Soulmates seem like a very personal thing, but Adelina simply smiles at him and squeezed his shoulder.

“I do,” The expression on her face conveys so much love that David starts to yearn for that feeling. “Her name is Elizabeth. We’ve known each other since we were your age,” David blinks up at her.

“Is she a romantic soulmate or your play-tonic,” The new words felt foreign on his lips, “soulmate?”

Adelina chuckles softly and he feels his cheeks heat up, not knowing why she’s laughing at him. “She’s my romantic soulmate. I love her very much,”

“That’s nice, but what does that have to do with my leg?” He doesn’t mean to be rude, but his leg still feels like it’s on fire.

Adelina glances down at his leg and scans it, then moves her leg towards him, lifting up her pant leg. There is one spot on her shin that’s darker than the rest: a bruise.

“See this?” She questions and he nods. “Elizabeth is very clumsy. She ran into our bed two nights ago when she got up to use the bathroom.”

“So, why do you have the bruise?”

“Because that’s what happens to soulmates, David. When your soulmate gets hurt, you feel the same pain. And if it’s a visible wound,” She gestures to the bruise, “it appears on your body,” David takes a moment, letting all of this information sink in. He’s seen many cuts and bruises appear on his skin, but he always brushed it off, telling him he just didn’t remember getting them. This made a lot more sense though.

“So, my leg hurts because my soulmate hurt themself?” If she notices that he doesn’t say ‘she’ like most of the boys his age would have, she doesn’t acknowledge it. But then again, she had just admitted she was in love with another woman, so he thinks she’s not going to judge him for the thoughts he’s recently been having.

“Yes,” Adelina answers. “And by the pain you seem to be in, I would guess that your soulmate broke their leg.”

David looks back down at his leg, blinking at it. The throbbing pain is still there and tears are still slipping down his cheeks, but it’s nice to have a reason for this pain, nice to blame it on his soulmate and not himself.

“When do I get to meet my soulmate?”

“I wish I could answer that for you, David, but nobody knows when they’ll meet their soulmate. It could happen tomorrow or it could happen when you turn thirty,” David frowns. He hates waiting. “And being with your soulmate is different for everybody, so sometimes it takes a while to even know you’re around your soulmate,”

“That sounds stupid,” Adelina laughs.

“It does, doesn’t it?”

There’s a beat and then David finds himself asking the question that had been pounding against his skull. “What if my soulmate hates me?”

Adelina smiled sadly at him, reaching up to brush her thumb against his damp cheek. “I can’t tell you that that doesn’t happen. The matches aren’t always perfect. Sometimes the world pairs someone with a person that is truly awful, but it only happens occasionally. I’m sure your soulmate will love you no matter what,”    

David doesn’t respond, because he knows that if he does, it’ll be depressing and it’ll make Adelina tell his parents that he needs to go to therapy again. His last therapist made him feel worse and he’s not going back.

So, he plasters on his fakest smile as he thinks of what his future soulmate will think of him. Will they hate him? Will they grow to love him? How could they love him when his parents couldn’t even love him?

Instead of saying all of this, he asks, “Are my parents soulmates?” because he needs to keep his mind off of the sad thoughts and also because he’s genuinely curious.

“I’m not sure, David. They’re both very private people when it comes to their relationship. But they love each other and you and Alexis very much,” Even he could see that Adelina was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince him.

He’s still awake when his parents get home hours later, the pain in his leg had only faded slightly, but it kept him up. He desperately wanted to find his parents and tell them everything that happened and ask if they’re each other’s soulmate, but he doesn’t. He stays in bed and cries at the continuous pain his soulmate has caused in his leg. Maybe he’ll bring it up to his parents tomorrow.

\---

He doesn’t.

\---

David doesn’t know for sure that his parents are soulmates until they are forced to move to Schitt’s Creek.

It’s the most time they’ve ever spent together as a family and it allows David to finally see his parents as a real couple and not the show that his mother loved to put on for others. He sees the devotion and loyalty in the two of them and he just knows.

(And there’s also that time that his mom bumps into a table at the café after having a bit too much to drink and the next day, she and his father had matching bruises).

Being around his parents and finally being able to feel the love they have for each other, makes him yearn for something he’s pushed away for years.

Throughout his teens and twenties, he distracted himself from the multiple bruises and cuts that showed up on his body at all time of the day and night. He had discovered very quickly after Adelina had told him about soulmates that his soulmate was prone to accidents. Over the past two and a half decades, David had had what felt like millions of minor injuries, and a few sprains and breaks. There was even that one time when David was twenty-two that he was pretty sure his soulmate had gotten a concussion somehow, but he had done his best to chalk that awful pain in his head to the hangover he had given himself.

Through every scrape and scratch, he pushed down the thought of his soulmate, not daring to let him think about the topic for longer than a second. He used to be a little more optimistic, after Adelina had explained it, wanting to believe that someone was out there that would finally give him the love he believed he deserved, but over the years, he had lost what little hope he had.

After every empty hook up and shallow friendship coming to an end, he became more and more guarded, and soon, he found himself hoping that he would never meet his soulmate. He didn’t need another person in his life that would be disappointed in him.

So, he drowned himself in alcohol, drugs, and meaningless sex. He thought he was living the life, but then the Rose empire had crumbled and the only thing left in its wake was Schitt’s Creek.

Schitt’s Creek was dirty and small, but it was the first place that David allowed himself to realize how unhappy he had been.

He began to let himself grow close to the residents (he even thought Stevie was his soulmate for a hot second, but then watched her drunkenly walk into a door and didn’t feel a thing) and he slowly started to feel happiness he couldn’t ever remember feeling. But he continued to shut down any thought of soulmates that came his way.

It was difficult, though. Alexis was constantly talking about the variety of people that could be her soulmate. First it was Stavros, then it was that hot guy she made out with at the party (who they later learned was named Mutt), and then it was Ted, but then it was Mutt again, and for a second there, she thought maybe Stevie or Twyla could be a platonic soulmate. The way she went back and forth made David dizzy and angry. He wished he could be more like Alexis and want to have a soulmate, but alas, the universe had burned him one too many times. He was charred and ashy and he did not want a soulmate.

But then Patrick Brewer walked into his life, shook his hand, and captured David’s attention in a heartbeat.   

\---

Patrick came into the picture wrapped in various shades of blue and brought with him a vast amount of business knowledge and a kind smile. David had never been more confused in his life.

The thing was, he was pretty sure Patrick was straight. He didn’t know for sure, but the business degree and the mid-range denim helped prove his point.

Logically, he knew that he shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, especially when that book didn’t even blink at the way Alexis was flirting with him. And yes, there had been a brief moment when Alexis had fantasized about Patrick being her soulmate, and the thought had made David’s stomach churn, but that was only because he hates talking about soulmates. It has nothing to do with David’s growing feelings for Patrick. Not at all.

However, during this whole Patrick situation, Sebastian Raine comes to town and it really fucks with David.

Sebastian had been the only person that David had allowed himself to think could be his soulmate. After finding out that Sebastian had been using him the entire time they were together, as well as sleeping with dozens of other people, David had nailed the coffin holding his last sliver of hope shut.  

So when Sebastian showed up in town and David finally had the chance to get his revenge, he took the opportunity, trying his best to ignore how sleazy it made him feel afterward. Luckily, he gets over the whole thing rather quickly.   

But then Stevie lets him stay at her apartment after Alexis gets lice and she won’t stop talking about how he and Patrick would be good for each other. It’s the first time he allows himself to admit that he might have a thing for his now business partner. And he hates himself for it. Why did he have to catch feelings for someone so unattainable?

Then his birthday happened.

\---

“We could go for a birthday dinner,” Patrick suggests after David tells him the sad birthday plans he has for himself.

“You don’t have to do that,” David replies softly because he really doesn’t want Patrick’s gift to him to be pity.

“No, I’d like to,” David watches Patrick carefully, trying to pick up on any signs of sympathy, but if anything, Patrick just looks nervous, which just makes David begin to think things that he has to stop immediately.

So, he agrees to the dinner and then texts Stevie because having Stevie there is safer.

Later that night, when David shows up at the café, his heart begins to pound when he sees the nice shirt and jacket Patrick had changed into. But this can’t be a date, even if Patrick was into guys, he wouldn’t be into David.

He presses the thought down and makes his way over to Patrick, making a joke to calm himself down.

“Almost didn’t see you there through the mad rush of the Friday night dinner crowd,” He plops down across from Patrick and smiles softly.

“I’m just so relieved that I made a reservation,” Patrick jokes back.

“Yes, well you look very nice,” And he does, but this is _not_ a date.

“Oh, thanks,” Patrick says nonchalantly. “Well, you know, I assumed that the cafe would have a dinner jacket policy and I didn’t want to wear one of theirs,”

“Well the amazing thing about this place is they’ve done such a wonderful job,” David open his menu up, “editing down their menu,” Patrick lets out a laugh and David’s heart pounds against his ribs, “to a very concise world-class selection of international cuisine.”

“Agreed, agreed,” Patrick said, glancing down at his own menu. “Dare we try the, uh, deep fried mozzarella stick platter?”

“Mmm,” David said sarcastically. “They do a lovely wine pairing with that, so,” David trails off and looks back down at his menu. This was the best thing about being around Patrick, it was always so easy to talk with him. Even when his hands were clammy and his heart was hammering away, he always loved talking with the other man.

“Sorry, I’m late,” Stevie announces as she appears by their table. “Is everybody here or are other people coming?”

“I don’t know,” Patrick says, looking over at David. “Is anyone else coming?”

“No, this is, um, this is it,” David said, placing his hands on the menu. “In case you didn’t know, I’m wildly popular, some might even venture to call me beloved,”

“That’s a bit of a stretch,” Patrick teased and David couldn’t help but smile. “Welcome, Stevie.” Patrick then says. “I’m sorry, if I’d known you were coming, I would have had them set three places,”

And then it hits David that he hadn’t told Patrick that he had invited Stevie.

“Oh,” Stevie looks over at David, who winces.

“Did I not tell you-”

“But, you know, hey, the more the merrier,” Patrick seems flusters and David can’t figure out why. It’s just Stevie. Patrick had always gotten along well with Stevie. “I’m just gonna, uh, hit the restroom real quick. And then I’ll...then I’ll come back,” He explains as he starts sliding out of the booth. He gets up and disappears from sight just as Stevie takes his spot.

David begins to study the menu that he, unfortunately, already knows like the back of his hand. Stevie starts going on about how she was crashing a date, but David won’t let himself believe that. He’s not on a date with Patrick right now. It’s just a friendly birthday dinner.

Patrick comes back and David opens his present, and he knows after one look at the frame that Stevie was right. He finally allows himself to see that Patrick does actually like him and the feeling is intoxicating.

\---

David is honestly a little shocked that Patrick seemed to lose his nerve when he puts the car in park once arriving at the motel. For the past three hours, Patrick’s move had been growing bolder and bolder. It was if Stevie showing up and then subsequently leaving had ignited something within him, and David hadn’t minded one bit.

As they ate their moderately edible food, Patrick’s foot had bumped against David’s, which began a game of footsie that didn’t end until they stood up. Patrick had also reached across the table to brush their hands together multiple times, and the way he held David’s gaze made David want to melt into the booth.

So, yes, it was a little shocking that Patrick kept glancing down at his lips but not making any move to lean in to kiss him.

David decides at that moment that he can be the one to make the move, Patrick had invited him out on this date, though technically it had never been clarified with David, so he supposes that he can give Patrick this one.

And it’s perfect.

“Thank you,”

“For what?”

“Um, I’ve never done that before, with a guy,”

“Okay?”

“Yeah, and uh,” Patrick lets out a breathy laugh. “I was getting a little scared that I was gonna let you leave here without us having done that, so um, thank you for um,” Patrick pauses a moment, as if choosing his words carefully, “making that happen for us,”

The way Patrick is looking at him is making his throat dry and his palms sweaty. He wants so badly to say something as sweet as Patrick, but he can’t. So, he settles for a joke instead, knowing that it’ll at least get a smile out of Patrick.

“Well, um, fortunately, I am a very generous person,” Patrick laughs and David can’t help but smile. “So,”

“Can we talk tomorrow?” There’s so much hope in Patrick’s voice and it makes David feel like he can’t breathe, but he doesn’t mind it.

“We can talk whenever you’d like,” Patrick is giving him the same look and David is feeling vulnerable, so he jokes again. “Just preferably not before ten a.m.,” He unbuckles his seat belt, not breaking eye contact with Patrick. “Um, cause I’m not really a morning person,”

“Mmhmm,” David smiles as he opens the car door and gets out, gift bag in hand. “Goodnight, David,”

He bends down and peers into the open window. “Goodnight, Patrick,” David walks inside his motel room and even with the weird cake and singing from his parents, he can’t stop smiling.

He feels giddy and for a brief moment he thinks maybe this is what having a soulmate must feel like, but he pushes that thought away. There’s no way Patrick is his soulmate, but he’s happy to take what he can get before Patrick realizes there’s someone better out there for him.

\---

Being with Patrick is unlike anything he’s ever experienced before.

The day after their first kiss David had mentioned that he’s kissed thousands of people, but none of them can hold a candle to Patrick. Whenever David’s wrapped up in Patrick, he feels protected, wanted, and cherished, all things he’s only felt from a handful of people, and never at the same time.

Patrick makes things easy. He doesn’t care that David shows up late to work, doesn’t care that David doesn’t think that the breath mints should go where the lip balms belong, and he doesn’t care when David makes a complete fool of himself on stage with his mother.

In the back of his mind, he can still hear Adelina’s words, _“I’m sure your soulmate will love you no matter what_ ,” and he knows that Patrick is the closest he’ll ever get to having a soulmate.

Every day their relationship feels more and more real, and David knows he’s falling hard. It’s terrifying but exhilarating and he doesn’t know how to handle it, so he allows himself to drown in the feeling of being wanted by a man he likes, respects, and thinks is nice. He wants to enjoy himself a little even though he knows it’s only a matter of time before the other shoe drops.

\---

The other shoe doesn’t drop, someone full on throws it right in his face, in front of his entire family.

Patrick’s ex fiancée is standing right there and he feels like he’s going to puke. He had literally spent all day telling Patrick and his family why they shouldn’t be celebrating this relationship. He really hates when he’s right.

He feels warm and his sweater is scratching at his skin, so he stands up and rushes off to his room, hating the way everybody’s eyes follow him. He knows Patrick is following him and he can’t figure out if he’s okay with that or not.

“David, I-I need to explain a couple of things,” Patrick said hurriedly.

“Um, what would be the main one, do you think?” David snapped, hating that just minutes ago he was so, so happy, but now he felt everything crumbling around him.

“Rachel and I were engaged, but I called it off before I moved here,” Everything makes a lot more sense now. Patrick never wants to talk much about his past, especially his past relationships, and David went along with it. He had been happy to lock it up just as Patrick suggested. And now it made perfect sense as to why Patrick never pushed him on the subject.

“Okay, you know what?” David starts moving his hands around because he’s confused, upset, and he doesn’t know what to do. “You don’t need to explain yourself,”

“I think,” Patrick starts. “I think that I do,”

“No, I know you do,” David turns back towards him. “That’s just what I’m supposed to be saying in the moment,” He’s seen this familiar scene a thousand times in the thousands of romantic comedies he’s watched over the years. He never thought it would hurt this much to be stuck inside a situation like this. “So, please continue,”

“Kay, um,” Patrick sits down on the edge of Alexis’ bed, putting his hand over his mouth as he tries to collect his thoughts. “We got together when we were in high school and we’ve been on and off ever since and I don’t know, we always just sorta fell back into it,” David’s arms are now crossed over his chest as if this position will shield him from the hurt. “Anyway, she’s been reaching out and expecting us to get back together for the past few months-”

“Woah,” David cuts off. “Over the past few months?” He could get past Patrick not telling him about Rachel when she was just someone from his past, but the fact that she had been contacting him while they were together and Patrick hadn’t said anything is what upsets David the most. “And you didn’t think to tell me about this?” He just wants to go back to this morning, or even ten minutes ago, just be anywhere but here in this moment. “You stood in front of me and told me to trust people-”

“I know,” Patrick looks so sad and David wants nothing more than to wrap him up in a hug, but he always wants to be nowhere near him.

“-when I was perfectly fine not trusting people!” David finishes. “Not trusting people is what I’m used to!” He tries to stop talking because he’s in the stage of his sadness where he starts admitting things that he should never tell anyone, but he’s on a roll and he just can’t stop. “It is my comfort zone. But next thing I know, there’s an oversized cookie on my doorstep and you are telling me that I have nothing to worry about,”

“I didn’t want it to affect what we have, okay?” Patrick stands up and moves closer to him. “And I mean it when I tell you that you have nothing to worry about because no matter how hard I tried with her, it just never felt right. And up until recently, I didn’t understand why,” David is crossing his arms over his chest again, but it’s not doing anything to stop the hurt. “David, I’ve spent most of my life not knowing what right was supposed to feel like. And then I met you and everything changed,” David bit his lip, trying to stop the tears that threatened to fall. “You make me feel right, David,” The blood in David’s ears is roaring and he feels like he wants to scream and cry and he hates it.

“That is quite possibly one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard anyone say,” Because it was, and if David wasn’t so crushed by all of this, he would be wrapping his arms around Patrick and showing him just how much that whole speech had touched him, but he can’t. “Um, outside of the Downtown Christmas special,”

“It’s the truth,”

“I know,” He can see how sincere Patrick’s being and it just devastates him even more. “It’s just that, my truth is that I am,” David can’t find the right words for a moment, but when he does, they break his heart to say aloud, “damaged goods and this has really messed things up for me. And I think I need some time with it,”

“Alright,” Patrick whispers and then he’s walking to the door.

“Actually, um,” He wants to tell him to stay, that they can just talk it out and everything will be better, but what comes out is, “I haven’t had dinner yet, so,” He knows that Patrick will get what he means. Patrick always gets what he means.

“I’ll grab you a slider,”

“More than one, um, and some potato salad. And I, I think there were other sides on the table but I couldn’t see so maybe just a smattering of everything,” Patrick stares at the ground for a moment, hand on the doorknob.

“Okay,” He breathes out. “Okay,” He then opens the door and walks out and David is finally allowed to let his tears fall.

He moves over to sit on the edge of his bed, burying his face in his hands as he pictures Patrick having to go back out and face what was left of the disastrous barbeque. He starts to feel bad for sending Patrick back out there, but then his stomach growls and his heart aches and the guilt lessens just a bit.

There’s a knock on the door and he knows it’s Patrick with his food. For a moment, he thinks he might just tell him to leave it at the door so he won’t have to look at the sad look on Patrick’s face, but he has to know something.

He pulls the door open and Patrick’s eyes widen, clearly surprised David hadn’t told him to leave the food and go. David takes the plate, happy with the sides and portions Patrick had shoveled onto the plate.

“Thank you,” He swallowed past the lump in his throat.

“You’re welcome. Can I, uh, get you anything else?”

“No,” David says and Patrick goes to leave. “Patrick?” Patrick turns quickly, a hopeful look on his face.

“Yes?”

“Is she…” David draws in a shaky breath, moments away from letting out a sob, but he pushes through it. “Is she your soulmate?”

“No.” He states firmly. “She, uh, always thought we were soulmates, but I knew we weren’t,” Patrick admits. “I knew we couldn’t be. Being with your soulmate is supposed to be easy, and our relationship was never easy,” David nods slowly. “She always saw cuts and bruises on me and convinced herself she had the same ones, but we both knew she didn’t.”

“Okay,”

“I’m so sorry, David,”

“I know you are,” That was the hardest part.

An unreadable emotion flashed across Patrick’s face. “And you aren’t damaged goods,” David’s breath hitches in his throat and he tightens his hold on his plate. “Even if you decide,” Patrick’s hands are deep in his pockets and his voice is watery. “If you decide you can’t get past this, I just need you to know that. Anybody would be lucky to have you,”

David can’t respond to that because he’s seconds away from bursting into tears. “I won’t be at the store tomorrow,”

“Okay,”

“And the next day,”

“Okay,”

“And probably the day after that,”

“Take as long as you need,” David nods and a single tear falls down his cheek. He knows Patrick sees it because he draws in a breath. He sniffs, gives David one last sorrow filled look, and then he walks away.

David shuts the door and the tears start to stream down his face.

It’s a good thing soulmates can’t feel emotional pain because he knows right now, he’d be making it hard for his soulmate to breathe with the amount of hurt that was flowing through him.

\---

They’re back together a week later and Patrick brings it up.

After David finished with his olive branch, he had bought them both dinner and they talked about their past. They did so in the privacy of the stockroom at the store because neither wanted to be in public when they had this conversation. There had been tears and whispered confessions, but at the end of it, Patrick was still there, staring at David as he always had.

Patrick now knew more about his past than anyone, including Stevie and Alexis, but he was still here.

Adelina’s words came to mind again, “ _I’m sure your soulmate will love you no matter what_ ,”, and normally he would have started to spiral thinking about Patrick actually being his soulmate, but he couldn’t think much about it because moments later, Patrick was pressing his lips to his. It grounded him and helped him forget about soulmates.

And now they were here, facing each other in Patrick’s bed at Ray’s, whispering so that no one would be able to hear them. They can hear whatever movie Ray is watching playing from downstairs, but they can’t bring themselves to care, too wrapped up in the other.

The light is soft and the moment is so tender that David struggles to keep his tears at bay.

The moment is ruined as soon as Patrick says the word that has pained David for years.

“We’ve never talked about soulmates,”

David grimaces and pulls back from Patrick slightly. “We’ve never had the reason to,” Patrick is giving him a curious look and he already knows he’s going to give in to Patrick and talk about this.

“I think we should,” David’s nose wrinkled and Patrick smiles softly at him, reaching up to caress his cheek. “I know it’s uncomfortable to talk about, but we don’t want it to ruin this down the line,” _Like Rachel almost did_ goes unsaid.

“Look, I just really don’t like talking about soulmates,”

“I know, David,” Patrick’s thumb swipes across his lips. “I’ve seen the way you completely clam up whenever someone brings the topic up,”

David glowers at him. “I do not _clam_ up.”

“You kind of do,” Patrick’s hand moves from his cheek to the back of his neck, scratching at the hair on the base of his neck. “And I get it, I do. After I broke off the engagement, I told myself I was going to stop thinking about soulmates because I thought _that’s_ why Rachel and I didn’t work out,” David can’t help but snort, making Patrick smile. “And I’ve never really cared much about soulmates, but I think we should talk about it,”

David squeezes his eyes shut and sighs. “Fine, but only because it seems like we’re on the same page here,”

“So, tell me exactly how you feel about soulmates,”

“I used to like the idea of someone out there somewhere that would love me, but I was a kid.” David shrugs and wishes the lights were off. This would be a lot easier to say if Patrick wasn’t giving him the most earnest look. “I’ve done my best to ignore it whenever a cut or bruise shows up on my body because I hate thinking about soulmates,”

“Why?” David stares at him for a moment and then moves to lay on his back, not wanting to look Patrick in the eye anymore.

“Because I always saw my soulmate as someone else I would let down,” Patrick’s hand comes to rest on his arm. “One of the first things I asked Adelina when she told me about soulmates was ‘what if my soulmate hates me?’,”

“Who’s Adelina?” David looks over at Patrick with an arched brow.

“I haven’t told you about her?” Patrick shakes his head. “She was mine and Alexis’ nanny. She basically raised us,” David turns to look back at the ceiling. “My parents were out somewhere when I felt this awful pain in my leg and I yelled to Adelina, and that’s when she told me about soulmates.”

“And your first thought was that whoever your soulmate is wouldn’t like you?” He can hear the sadness in Patrick’s voice.

David hums. “It was a really bad time in my life. I was finally old enough to realize that my parents didn’t love me the way they should,” David swallows and blinks rapidly, hoping the tears don’t start pouring. “They’re better now, so much better, but before we moved here, we barely talked. Our rooms were in different wings of the house.”

“I’m sorry, David,” Patrick whispers, placing a kiss to his shoulder.

“And as the years went on and I just got more and more against the idea of meeting my soulmate.” David sniffles. “Okay, can it be your turn now? I don’t want to talk anymore,”

“Okay,” Patrick said, moving closer to David. “When I first found out about soulmates, I was about six or seven and I had broken my leg,”

“How’d you break your leg?”

Patrick stays silent and when David looks over at him, his cheeks are dusted pink. “I don’t want to tell you,”

“Okay, now you have to tell me,” David teases, poking at Patrick’s side.

“I, um,” Patrick cleared his throat. “I was at my aunt and uncle’s house because my cousin and I were having a joint birthday party,”

“Adorable,”

“And I got this superhero costume,” David continues to stare at him, delighted in the blush on Patrick’s pale skin. “My cousin is a year younger than me and he got one just like it, so obviously we put them on. My older cousin got on the trampoline with us and started bouncing us super high so we could pretend we were flying and I ended up flying off the trampoline and I landed weird.” Patrick winces. “I cried the entire way to the ER and during the three hour wait,”

“Poor baby,” David presses a kiss to his forehead and Patrick nuzzles closer to him.

“When I was waiting to get X-Rayed, my mom started laughing, which I remember confusing the hell out of me. Then I asked her why she was laughing she said ‘Oh, your poor soulmate’, and then she told me all about soulmates. Then I felt guilty for hurting my soulmate.”

“Oh my god, that might be the cutest thing I’ve ever heard,”

“I never wore my superhero costume again because I thought it was cursed,” Patrick adds and David shakes his head.

“Okay, nevermind, _that’s_ the cutest thing I’ve ever heard,” Patrick huffed out a laugh.

“After that, I tried to be really careful, but I somehow ended up with a whole bunch of injuries. I’m prone to hurting myself and not remembering how it happened,” Something in the back of David’s brain prickled, but he pushes it aside in favor of thinking of little Patrick trying his best to not harm himself and then feeling extremely guilty when he did.

“It’s cute you tried though. I just stopped caring,”

Patrick rubs a hand over David’s chest and sighs. “I did too when I became a teenager. I kept hearing people claim that Rachel and I were soulmates and I just became really apathetic about the topic. If we were soulmates, then why wasn't I happy? Everybody constantly talking about how great soulmates were? Rachel is great, and I did love her, but something was always missing,” David hums. “At some point, I stopped searching for more and just accepted that that was all I was going to have in life. I figured she was my platonic soulmate or something and brushed it off,”

“What changed your mind?”

“I watched one of my best friends find his soulmate.” David’s hand finds its way to Patrick’s back, rubbing small circles against the smooth skin as he continues. “My friend, Andy, had never really been interested in relationships like everybody else was, and when he found his soulmate, Emma, they both realized quickly that they were platonic soulmates. I asked him about what it was like and I realized how it wasn’t at all like my relationship with Rachel. So, I told her the wedding was off and I left,”

“I’m so glad you did,” David murmurs and Patrick looks up and smiles softly at him.

“Me too,” Patrick pushes himself up so that he can kiss David chastely before he relaxes against his chest. “Once I moved here, I told myself that I wasn’t going to worry about soulmates. I was just going to see what I wanted and follow my heart, not whatever mark was on my body,”

“That’s very sweet,”

“And I think it worked out pretty well,” Patrick smirks up at him and David chuckles in response.

“I think you’re right,”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page about this,” Patrick mutters after a moment of quiet. “It could have been really bad if one of us was hellbent on finding our soulmate.”

“I’m glad too,” David blinks tiredly. “And now that that’s settled, can we go to sleep?”

“Of course,” Patrick moves off of him and reaches over to switch off the light. “Big spoon or little spoon?”

“Um,” David says, considering both options. “Little,” Patricks nods in the dark as David turns on his side, letting out a happy sigh as Patrick wraps around his back. “You know how sorry I am for making you wait, right?”

“I do,” Patrick breathes in his ear, making David shiver. “And you know how sorry I am for not telling you about Rachel, right?” David hums the affirmative and presses back into Patrick’s arms.

“I’ve missed you,”

“I’ve missed you too,”

Everything is finally out in the open and David feels like his lungs have enough air in them to keep from collapsing.

\---

Once David takes the time to look back on it, he’ll see how stupid they really were. Maybe stupid is the wrong word. Oblivious.

The amount of times David had spotted a bruise or scrape on Patrick’s pale skin that could match the ones on his olive skin is alarming. But it never registers. His brain is forcing him into such deep denial that he doesn’t put two and two together.

And he really should at this point. He’s been around Patrick so many times when the other man gets hurt because it’s true, Patrick is prone to accidents.

He felt a drip of pain when Patrick spilled soup on his lap, but he had dropped his phone on his leg at the same moment, so it was inconclusive.

He had watched Patrick rifling through some paperwork at the front counter at the store which resulted in a paper cut, but David just blamed his pain on accidentally scraping his hand against a box.

The dumbest explanation was definitely when Patrick stubbed his toe on a heavy box in the storeroom and David just claimed he had sympathy pain.

He was so deeply set in his anti-soulmate thoughts that he couldn’t see what was right in front of him. But then was fine because Patrick was doing the exact same thing.

—-

Patrick loves him.

That’s the thought that has been ringing in his head since Patrick had told him this morning.

With those words had come a lot of emotions. First was shock, and then confusion, and then a little irritation because of course Patrick had to tell him just to make his day more stressful. But the irritation melted away quickly because messing with David was one of Patrick’s favorite things to do and for some reason, David loved that about him.

And of course, he knows that he loves Patrick too, had known for months, but feeling it and saying it was two different things.

It took him talking to Ted and realizing that “sometimes things work out” to make him realize he was wasting time. So, with the taste of a dog treat still in his mouth, he hurried back to Patrick and told him he loved him too.

The day only got better when he walked over to the café to get Patrick his tea just in time to see Ted show up. He had made a whole speech about how he knew they were soulmates and he was tired of pretending they weren’t.

When he gets back to the store and hands Patrick his tea, he dives into the story of what he just saw, and once he finishes, Patrick smiles and says, “So it’s shaping up to be a pretty good day for the Rose siblings,”

“You seem pretty sure of yourself,” David teases and Patrick smirks.

“What was it you said when we met? That I was either very impatient or extremely sure of myself?” Patrick’s eyes are sparkling and David tries to conceal the large smile that threatens to bloom on his face.

“I guess I figured you out,”

“Guess so,” Patrick leans in to kiss him softly. David starts to move closer but before he can deepen the kiss, Patrick pulls back. He laughs at the pout on David’s face and then squeezes his hand. “How about a date night tonight? We could go somewhere to eat that’s not the café. Get away from these singles so they don’t feel too bad when they see that we’re in love,”

David can’t stop his smile from stretching across his face. “We are in love, aren’t we?” His arms move up to wind around Patrick’s neck, and Patrick’s hands find their home at David’s waist.

“Just a little bit,” Patrick smiles and David ducks his head bashfully.

“Only a little?” David finally questions once he’s able to speak.

“Mmm, maybe a little more than a little,” David grins and Patrick chuckles. “So, what do you say? We could drive to Elmdale. You liked that cute little bistro over by the old Blouse Barn,”

David lets out a noise. “That place is delicious. Can we go there?”

“Of course we can,” Patrick squeezes at his hips. “We’ll head out as soon as we close the store. And you’ll have the whole way there to tell me what happened with Ted,”

“What happened is I’m an amazing brother,” David smirks and Patrick rolls his eyes before pecking him on the lips. He pulls away from David just as the bell over the door chimes. “Welcome to Rose Apothecary,” Patrick chirps to the customer and David frowns.

The customer states that she’s looking for the massage oils, and after Patrick points her in the right direction he turns back to David. “You can have the entire drive to Elmdale just for that story, I promise,” Patrick smiles.

“It won’t take that long, so how about after I finish, you can tell me all the different things you love about me,”

Patrick laughs. “Only if on the way back you tell me what you love about me,”

“I’ll start preparing my list,” Patrick rolls his eyes but he still has that fond look on his face that is reserved just for David.

For the first time since their relationship started, he isn’t afraid of it ending. He knows he should be, especially since the stakes are so much higher after the step they took today, but he feels sturdy and secure with Patrick now. He doesn’t feel like the rug is going to be yanked out from under him and it’s refreshing.

—-

Their relationship progresses from there and with every day, David feels happier and happier. Of course, every now and then, there’s an argument or Alexis gets in his head and David forces them to do a ropes course to prove their relationship is still adventurous, but it’s good. Really good.

Patrick gets his own apartment and though there was a bit of a mix up while they were looking at places, David now knows that it’s good for them to have space right now. They don’t want to rush things just because they’re in love.

Then Stevie kidnaps him so she won’t get murdered while meeting up with her motel reviewer. He’s mad at first but after multiple polar bear shots, he’s happy and he made a new friend. Plus he was glad to see Stevie happy.

He wakes the next morning with a pounding headache and he vows to never do anything for Stevie’s happiness again.

When he gets home, he goes right to Patrick’s, surprised to see Patrick lying in bed when he opens the door.

“Look at you,” David smirks as he shuts the door, loving that he’s awake before his boyfriend for once.

Patrick lets out a groan and peeks out from under his covers. “Hi,”

“You don’t sound good,” David observes, making his way over to the bed.

“I woke up with this splitting headache, I think I might be coming down with something or maybe I didn’t get enough sleep,” David frowns and removes his shoes before he lies down beside Patrick.

“I’m sorry,” David mutters, moving to wrap around him. “If it makes you feel better, I’m incredibly hungover.”

Patrick chuckles softly. “That’s not surprising. I got a lot of drunken texts last night,” David groans.

“I’m sorry,” David mumbles into the crook of Patrick’s neck. “I get really clingy when I’m drunk and you weren’t there, so texting was the best I could do,”

“I don’t know how you could possibly get clingier,” Patrick quips and David rolls his eyes.

“Shut up, you love it,”

“I do,” Patrick presses himself back into David and David tightens his hold. “And all of your texts were very confusing, but also very cute,”

“I’m glad. I don’t remember sending any of them,”

“I figured you didn’t,”

“Can we go back to sleep now?”

“Absolutely,”

Later, they both woke up feeling better, but neither of them put the pieces together.

\---

Patrick picks him over Ken.

David’s never had someone pick him before, he’s always the second choice or back up plan, never someone’s first. So, when Patrick hold him tightly, he can’t get pull away from the embrace because he had really thought he had messed things up for good this time. But Patrick’s still here and for the most part, David’s insecurities are washed away.

However, there’s still one thing on his mind.

It prickles in the back of his mind as they settle in to watch a movie, squishing onto David’s bed. He tries his best to push the thought to the side, wanting to feel perfectly content resting in Patrick’s arms after the emotional rollercoaster today has been, but he can’t. He needs to ask this question even if it might crush him.

“Patrick?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you ever wonder what would happen if one of our soulmates showed up?” David whispers. They haven’t talked about soulmates since the night they got back together, and they had never discussed something like this. He knows they need to though, they need to be prepared for the worst case scenario.  

“Sometimes,” That wasn’t the answer he was expecting. “I mean, it’s something that’s always kind of at the back of my mind,”

“Yeah?” David asks, looking up at him from where he was resting his head on Patrick’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Patrick sighs and rubs his hand down David’s arm. “I try not to think about it. I don’t like to think about not being with you anymore,”

“Me neither,” David frowns. “I think that I wanted you to go out with Ken so I would have some kind of idea what would happen if your soulmate showed up,” David admits. “It was self-sabotage and I see that now, but it made sense in my head,”

“I get it,” Patrick murmurs. “I’ve had to see you kiss two other guys during our relationship, and I knew they weren’t your soulmate, so I can’t even imagine what it’d be like if your soulmate did show up,”

David nuzzles into Patrick’s neck. “I hate soulmates,”

“Me too,” Patrick agrees and David holds him tighter. “But we’re here now, and I’m not planning to leave you anytime soon,”

“Me neither,” David whispers. “It would take a lot for me to leave you,”

Patrick smiles sadly and kisses him gently.

David knows they’re being ridiculous. They could both have platonic soulmates and this wouldn’t even be an issue, but the feeling of having their relationship ripped away from them was terrifying. It felt as if they were on borrowed time.

Knowing that Patrick was feeling the same way did bring him a sense of comfort though.

—-

The next day, he brings it up to Alexis because he needs to talk to someone about it. He tells her that he’s worried that Patrick’s perfect soulmate will come out of the framework and he’ll get dumped seconds later.

The look she gave him would have been comical if he wasn’t freaking out.

“You’re kidding, right?” She’s smirking at him and he wants to slap her.

“What?”

“You two are totally soulmates,” He scoffs at her because there’s just no way Patrick is his soulmate. They’d know by now, wouldn’t they?

“No, we aren’t,”

“Well, have you ever tested it?”

“Tested it?” Alexis rolls her eyes at him and sits down on her bed to face him.

“Yes, David!” She says exasperatedly. “Test it! When I thought Ted was my soulmate, I did an experiment,”

“What kind of experiment?”

“I pinched myself when I could see him. He flinched and looked down at his arm and I knew he was my soulmate,” He wants to make a comment about how gross they are, but he doesn’t have the heart to right now. She’s just so happy.

“It could have been a coincidence,”

It was her turn to scoff. “Seriously, David? You think that was a coincidence?”

“It could have been,”

“I’ll have you know that I tested it multiple times and he reacted every time. The last time I did it, he looked up as soon as he felt something. He said he knew it was me,” She places a hand on her chest and sighs dreamily.

“Gross,”

“Ugh, you’re just jealous, David!”

“Mmmkay,”

“And you’re too chicken to test it!”

“Am not!” David snaps and Alexis simply smirks at him, hops off her bed and prances off to the bathroom.

“Then try it the next time you see him!”

—-

The next day he sees Patrick and his fingers are an inch from his skin, ready to pinch, but then Patrick smiles over at him and he loses his nerve.

Ignorance is bliss, right?

—-

His fear becomes a reality when he agrees to play baseball so Patrick’s team doesn’t have to forfeit.

He hits a home run, but then his dad hits him in the back with the ball and it hurts. It’s definitely something his soulmate would feel.

Patrick doesn’t even flinch.

He knows now, and surely Patrick does too. But neither of them says a word. That night, David makes up an excuse to stay at the motel and Alexis holds him while he cries. She must see how upset he is because she doesn’t tease him about it once.

He still doesn’t end things with Patrick. He can’t bring himself to do that just yet. Just a few more days, weeks, months, anything he can get. 

—

Just because they aren’t soulmates doesn’t mean that David can’t throw his boyfriend a surprise party and invite Patrick’s parents.

But everything goes to shit the second his dad tells the Brewers about their relationship going beyond business partners. David has to shut the voice up in his head that keeps telling him that if he were Patrick’s soulmate, Patrick would have told his parents about their relationship. That thought is ridiculous though. None of this is because of soulmates, it all has to do with Patrick being afraid to come out to his parents. So, he focuses all of his energy on making sure Patrick is okay and doing his best to fix the mess he had unknowingly created.

Clint and Marcy Brewer are some of the nicest people David has ever met and he’s really not surprised. He’s spoken with both on the phone at the store, but meeting them in person was so much different. They had kind faces and polite smiles; it’s no wonder Patrick turned out so sweet.

Patrick spends the night pressed to David’s side after he comes out to his parents and he looks happier. David’s never been prouder of him, and he makes sure to let Patrick know.

Patrick is on the verge of drunk when Twyla kicks them out of the café and it’s utterly adorable. David has always loved Drunk Patrick. He gets clingy and giggly and constantly talks about how much he loves David. It’s perfect.

When they get back to Patrick’s apartment, Patrick makes his way over to his stash of alcohol. He downs a shot of whiskey and David lets him because it’s been a rough day. He had woken up this morning simply thinking it was a normal birthday, having had no idea that he would come out to his parents in a matter of hours.

He does cut him off eventually, but not before Patrick’s had a few more drinks. Patrick’s a bit of a lightweight so it’s no surprise he gets drunk.

David wishes he would have dragged Patrick to bed without any additional drinks.

“My parents asked me if you’re my soulmate,” Patrick slurs as David forces a glass of water into his hand.

He feels his blood run cold as he sits beside Patrick on the couch. “Oh?”

Patrick takes a long sip of the water. “I didn’t know what to say,” David’s eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“We don’t know, David,” Patrick says, looking over at him with glossy eyes and a frown. “We don’t know if we’re soulmates, David,”

David swallows and places a hand on Patrick’s knee. “Yes, we do,”

Patrick gives him a confused look. “No, we don’t,”

“Patrick, we aren’t soulmates,” David says softly and the look on Patrick’s face breaks his heart.

“You don’t know that,” He wants to bring up that stupid baseball game, but he can’t, not while Patrick is drunk.

“We’re not talking about this right now,” David pats his knee and then stands up. “I’m going to get ready for bed,”

“We need to talk about this,” He might have caved if Patrick’s words weren’t so slurred.

“Not right now,” David says, moving towards the bathroom. There’s a slam and he turns around to see Patrick had placed the glass of water on his coffee table rather forcefully, the liquid sloshing out of the cup.

“We never talk about it, David!” David’s eyes widen and Patrick immediately looks guilty for raising his voice.

David stares at him for a moment before walking into the kitchen and grabbing a towel. He tosses it Patrick’s way and gestures to the spill on the coffee table. “That’ll ruin the wood,”

“David-”

“I’m not doing this with you when you’re drunk, Patrick,” David says simply and turns around again.

“Why can’t we talk about this?”

Because it’ll lead to the end. Because I can’t handle it. Because it might break me.

“Because I don’t want to,” David steps into the bathroom and shuts the door, blocking out Patrick’s response better than that curtain would have. The door was a good call.

He wills himself not to cry as he goes through the motions of his nighttime routine. Once he’s done, he’s beyond relieved to see Patrick passed out on his bed. He’s in the clear for now and he doubts that Patrick will remember this conversation in the morning. He’s bought himself more time.

David’s curious though, wondering why Patrick seems to think that they don’t know whether or not they’re soulmates. Maybe he’ll gain enough courage to ask him about it tomorrow.

\---

He doesn’t.

\---

The next few weeks pass in a blur and they don’t see much of each other. Patrick is busy with rehearsals for Cabaret and David is busy with the store and keeping his mom from finding out about Patrick and Stevie’s secret dance lessons.

Opening Night is less than a week away and Patrick suggests they have a picnic on their day off.

David could go for a picnic.

\---

He’s hot, sweaty, and his feet are killing him. He’s a little irritated that Patrick hadn’t told him that they had to hike to get to their picnic spot. He doesn’t think Patrick did it to torture him, but he doesn’t _not_ think that Patrick did it to torture him.

“Kay, there’s no service here,” David says, glaring down at his phone. They’ve been hiking for what feels like hours and David just wants it to be over.

“David, put your phone down,” Patrick says, clearly annoyed with him, but David really can’t bring himself to care right now. “We don’t need service, we have each other,”

“Well, if you could track my eBay bid, then by all means,” David retorts. “Did we really need two backpacks? I mean, what are you keeping in these things?”

“Well, you had a pretty long list and we needed ice packs to keep the cheese that you requested cold,”

“Well, did I get the ice pack one? Because this is not light,” David complains. “I just wonder why we couldn’t have found a meadow somewhere, you know, with some men on horseback like trotting in the background,”

“Okay, David,” Patrick whirls around, making David stop in his tracks. “You wanna turn around?”

“Well, the app that’s counting my steps isn’t working so I honestly don’t know,”

“You know what?” Patrick has gone from angry to upset within seconds. “I got up early to pack these bags for us because I thought this would be a fun thing to do together, but obviously, that was a mistake,”

“Okay, wow,” David says. “So, then let’s keep going then,” He moves to keep walking, but Patrick stops him.

“Well, no, cause there’s still another half an hour to go,”

“Oh,” David winces.

“So I think it’s probably better if we call it now and forget about the picnic,”

“Okay, well, we can’t forget about the picnic cause I will need to eat at some point soon,”

Patrick is looking at him with the most defeated expression. “Really?”

“Okay,” David starts, knowing that he needed to try and fix this. “I love that you’ve done this for us,” and he does, he just really hates hiking, “and I think you look very dashing in your hiking clothes, it’s just a long way to go for some cheese,”

“Then let’s turn around, David,” Patrick walks past him back down the trail, “because honestly-” He cuts himself off with a yelp and then there’s a throbbing pain in David’s foot, but it doesn’t stop him from shouting.

“Where’s the bear?!”

“No,” David turns to Patrick, who’s clutching at his leg. “I stepped on a branch, went right through my shoe,”

“How do you know that it went through your shoe?” David asks and Patrick lifts up his foot, causing David to quickly steady him. “Okay, everybody calm down, it’s going to be fine,” Patrick wraps his arms around David’s shoulder and David leads them over to a spot where Patrick can sit down.

It’s not until Patrick is resting on a log and is pulling his shoe back on after David had disinfected it that David’s brain even registers the pain in his own foot.

Oh.

_Oh_.

Oh, shit. He can feel Patrick’s pain.

“David?” Patrick asks and David’s head snaps up to meet his gaze. “Are we going to go?”

David blinks. He had just convinced Patrick to keep hiking, but he was still sitting on the ground, head running a mile a minute. A part of him wants to write this off as a coincidence, but he knows how bad he is at write-offs.

“Patrick,” He finally breathes out and Patrick raises an eyebrow at him.

“What?” He can’t find the right words, so he reaches out and pinches his own hand. Patrick lets out a slight gasp at the pain before looking down at his hand and David lets out a breathy laugh. “I think a bug just bit me or something,” David lets out another laugh and Patrick looks up, eyebrow arching up. “Why are you laughing?”

“Patrick.” He says again, giving him a look. He lifts up his hand and pinches it again, this time Patrick watches him do it, wincing as the pain courses through both of them.

“Ouch, why would you-” Patrick’s eyes widen. “David,” He whispers and David grins.

“Patrick,”

“ _David_ ,”

“ _Patrick_ ,” Patrick lets out a laugh and leans forward to grasp at David, kissing him hard as soon as he was within reach.

David laughs against Patrick’s mouth and pushes himself up on his knees so Patrick isn’t leaning down so far. Patrick’s arms wind around his neck and David squeezes at his knee.

“We’re soulmates,” Patrick murmurs once they pull back and David beams at him.

“We’re soulmates,” He repeats and Patrick grins brightly at him.

“Oh my god,” He lets out a giddy laugh, and then suddenly his gaze turns serious. “We have to finish this hike,”

David squints at him. “Why?”

“You’re hungry,”

Well, okay, he can’t really argue with that.

\---

David being hungry wasn’t why Patrick had wanted to finish the hike, and David was completely fine with the lie.

They were cuddled up on the blanket, drinking from the champagne bottle and eating cheese and crackers all while the four golden rings glisten on David’s hand. There’s still a dull pain throbbing in their feet, but the joy from finding out that they’re soulmates and getting engaged is enough to make them forget about it completely.

“I almost don’t want to tell people we’re soulmates because it’s embarrassing how long it took us to figure it out,” David says before taking a swig of the champagne and then handing it back to Patrick.

“I don’t think it’s embarrassing. It’s not like there were _that_ many clues,”

David gave him a look. “Are you serious?”

“What?”

“I mean, we really should have noticed the cuts and bruises on each other,”

“I barely recognize cuts and bruises on my own body, so it’s really not shocking I didn’t notice the ones on yours,” Patrick takes a bite of cheese and David rolls his eyes, though a smile remains glued to his face.

“Okay, but think about the dozens of other times we could have figured it out,”

“Name one,”

David throws him a disbelieving look. “Well, when we first started talking about soulmates, I mentioned that Adelina told me about them when I felt a random pain in my leg, and then you told me how you broke your leg on your birthday,”

“So? Lots of kids break their legs,”

“Yes, but I was ten when that happened. How old were you,”

“I had just turned six,” Patrick says and then it dawns on him. “Yeah, okay, maybe we should have put that together.” He chuckles. David smirks and takes the bottle of champagne back from his fiancé. He almost chokes on the drink when a thought comes into his head.

“You felt my hangover!”

Patrick laughs at the sudden outburst. “What?”

“When Stevie kidnapped me and I had like a dozen polar bear shots. I got home the next day and you said you had a headache!”

Patrick’s eyes widened and he ran a hand over his eyes. “Okay, you’re right, this is extremely embarrassing for us,”

David spreads some cheese onto a cracker and shoves it into his mouth. “See?”

“I mean, we could tell everyone we’ve known that we were soulmates for a while and just decided not to tell people,” David winces.

“Yeah, that’s not going to work,”

“Why?”

“Because after the baseball game, I went home and cried to Alexis about how we weren’t soulmates,” David took another drink of the champagne to avoid the sad expression that crosses over Patrick’s face.

“You did what?” He asks softly.

“I got hit in the back with the ball, and when you didn’t say anything about it, I just figured that was that.” David shrugged.

“David, I’m so sorry,” He raises an eyebrow at Patrick. “I did feel that, but I was afraid I was making myself feel it or something because I wanted us to be soulmates so badly.”

“I thought you said you didn’t care about soulmates,”

“I didn’t,” Patrick admits. “But then we had that conversation about what would do if our soulmates came into our lives and it made me realize that I wanted it to be so badly,”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you never liked talking about soulmates,” David remembers the drunken conversation they had had weeks ago and he flinches. “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Patrick sighs. “And I really didn’t want to find out that we weren’t soulmates,”

“I was the same way,” David confesses. “Alexis told me to test it, but I was too afraid to,”

Patrick leans over and kisses him. “We don’t have to worry about it anymore,”

“We don’t,” David breathes out and ducks his head sheepishly.

“I love you,”

“I love you too,” David says this after looking back up. He reaches up and places his left hand Patrick’s cheek and he grins at the sight of the rings.

“We’re soulmates,”

“ _Engaged_ soulmates,” David smiles and Patrick smirks. “Wait a minute,” David said, smile dropping off of his face. “How long have you been planning to propose?”

“Well, I decided I was going to the night of my birthday when we were slow dancing at the café. I’ve been planning it ever since,” David’s mouth falls open and he feels the familiar prickle of tears in his eyes. “What?”

“You were going to propose to me even though you had had no idea we were soulmates?”

“Well, yeah,” Patrick shrugs. “Even though I knew I wanted us to be soulmates, I wasn’t going to let it control our lives. If soulmates didn’t exist, I would be asking you to marry me, so I went with it.” Patrick looks at him with a teasing glint in his eye. “Or I guess you could say that I didn’t need my body to tell me something my heart already knew,”

David huffs and slaps Patrick’s chest with a limp hand. “That was cheesy and ridiculous,”

“But you loved it,”

“I love _you,_ ”

“I love you too,” David hides his huge smile in a bite of cheese.

They still need to figure out what to tell people about what had happened today, but right now, they were perfectly content to sit here, get drunk and eat cheese together as they reflected over the obvious signs they had driven right past for the past two years.

Maybe he’ll look Adelina up and call her to let her know that he had found his soulmate and Patrick loved him no matter what.

\---

He does and she gets an invitation to the wedding.


End file.
